Construction of aeronautical machines.



v I. R. PORTER. CONSTRUCTION OF AERONAUTIOAL MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED FEB.27, 1m

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consrnn'c'rron or annonau'rrc'an MACHINES.

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' v To all whom'z't may concern Be it known that ll, JAMEs ROBERTSON Power, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 9 Grays Inn Square, Holborn, inthe county of London, England,

, civil engineer, have invented a new and useful Improvement in 'the' Construction of Aeronautical Machines, of which the follow ing isa specification.

This invention relates to aeronautical machines of the character described in the specification of my application filed 27th January, 1913, Serial No. 744458, such a,

machine comprising outer and inner walls spaced apart toform a downwardly flaring annular passageway", and an upper intake annular passageway formed by a continuation of said outer wall and a conical cont1nuation of said inner wall, therebeing provided means for drawing in and propelling.

.air through said flaring passageway.

According to my present improved construction'the inner wall of the machine is curved inwardly at its lower end to form a convex under surface, the-complete structure forming a hollow b'ody lwhich in crosssection is elliptical as to its lower portion and conical as -'to its upper portion. From this hollow body is spaced-"anyoutertwall which is parallel with. the upper portion of the hollow Ibody and forms an annular downwardly flaring passageway. The lower edge of the outer wall terminates substan-- tially in the 'plane'of the majoraxis of the ower portion of the hollow body, and from thence a downward extension is provided forming a curtain'around' the convex lower portion of the hollow bodyl The upper edge of the outer wall is extended and curved outwardly to forman annular aeroplane surface. p I

The improvedmachine 1s capable of rising from and alighting upon land or water,

' the hollow body serving asfa float to support the machine upon water. The engine V for driving the machine may be mounted within the .hollow body and the exhaust gases may be permitted to escape into the latter to create buoyancy. During the ascent of the machine the air drawn from i above is forced below the machine and is guided directly downward by the convex under surface of the hollow 'body; and dur ing the descent of the machine the said-convex surface serves as aparachute to lead the Specification of Letters Patent.

air gradually into the flaring formed between the inner and outer walls. The accompanying drawing illustrates in section and diagrammatically an aeronautiiclal machine embodying my present inven- 10H.

In the drawing a is the outer annular wall and b the inner annular wall parallel there with, both walls being curved so as to form between them an annular flaring passageway 0 extending downwardly from an air intake 0 to an outlet 0 The lower edge of the inner wall?) is curvedinwardly to form a convex surface I), thereby forming a central hollow body which in cross-section is elliptithe upper port on 1s conical. The apex of the conical portion terminates in a circular frame (Z provided with a bearing (2 to receive the upper end of a shafte co-axial with the hollow body and driven by an engine '6" 1nounted a propeller or fan f for drawingv in and propelling air through the intake 0 whence the air flows throughthe annular Patented Jan-5, 1915.. Application filed February 27, 1am. Serial No. 821,542.

passageway flaring passage 0, The shaft 6 is driven by the engine 6, which may be a rotary internal combustion engine, and the hot gases thereupon may be employed to inflate the hollow body orthey may escape by way of a conical tube e formed with perforations 0 at its upper end. Beneath the engine or in any other convenient housing gfor the pilot. i

The outer wall a is parallel with the inner wall I) from-the intake 0 to about the'nlajor axis of the convex portion 6 and from thence extends downwardly to form a. flexible' curtain a the edge of which is level with the crown of the convex surface 0. The curtain a is provided at several points with cords or the like a each of which extends to and passes around a separatesteeringpillar a whereby thecords are operated to control the movements of the machine. The upper edge of the outer wall a may be ex. tended from the intake 0 and be curved position is a outwardly to form a shallow saucer shaped L surface it, the complete'diameter of which is approximately equal to that of the outer wall a The forward travel of the machine is l. l c

tached to the curtain a causing a motion by ,reason' of the obstruction tothe discharge of the air with the result that the machine tilts, whereupon thelupper surface iii-acts an aeroplane and helps to support} part of the'lo'ad duringthe forward-motion of the machine. During" a vertical. descent;

"the surface haii'ords an additional p'arachute'area, the airfbetween thewalls h gm'd to the graduallyincreajsing area of the space c between-the-two surfaces-a512, the "velocity energy in? the air dueto itsvel'ocity-is grad-J with the machine.

a being practicallyinclosed anddrawn down 7 With my ir'npr oveda construction of ina chine the propeller jdurin"g its rotation causes 'af current {of air to flowat v considerable velocitythrou-gh the inlet of, and owing of the air decreases,- the result being;- that'the ually i decreasedwhile a gradually increasingpr'ess'ure energy is obtained-Q .T his pressure acts-over the-whole face ofth-e elliptical surface 6 and causes the machine torise';

, the-Whole of theairdrawn fro'mtaboveat a high velocity] passing beneath the machine atfa'low velocityand forming aj-column of compressed 'airlwhich acts 'uponthe under-;*

side I of the machine :torais'e the latter.

When descending .vertically -.the-. machine forms an improved parachute, as the whole of the air'bene'ath the machine .is caused by "the inner surfaces 71, Z) to pass through the machine with a gradually increasing velocity until it flows through thegopeningc. A parachuteas commonly constructed 1s m- "efficient by reason of. the escapeof air around the rim, whereas with my improved" construction the air flows 'steadily through- .to secure by LettersPatent, is 45 the-channel in asimilar way to that in a Venturi tube, andthe increased static pressure on the underside of the'surfaceb" in;

sures a slow descent for themachine.

- \Vhat I claim as my invention and desire 1 An aeronautical machine comprising .an outer and an inner annular wall spaced I apart to 'form a downwardly flaring annular passageway,said inner wall being-curved mwardlyat its lower end to present a convexunder surface whlleits upperend 1s Yfma s'e r continued to form aholl'ow cone, thereby forming a hollow -b0d y' having an elliptical lower portion and -a conical upper portion,

' an:upper. annular intake, formed by; a .con-

tinuation of said. outer wall and'the said conical portion of'the' inner Wall, and means for drawing iii and propelling ain'through said passageway,-substantially as described.

2; An aeronautical machine comprising an outer and inner wall constructed and spaced apart to providef'an upper and lower reversely .7 curved, annular passageway and forming a continuou'efi-downwardly flaring -'passageway of ogeecontour. having unimpeded interior deflecting: surfaces "and provided with open .en'ds terminating in planes at right angles to the vertical axis of said machine, anu-ppr annular and curved wall forming an extension of the-u per edqetof said router wall, a curtain forming a downward extension of said outer wall, a convex -Wa1l 1nclos1ng the underside of sald inner Wang-means.- for drawing air inwardly through said, annular passageway and" means for; operating sald curta n to control the discharge of air from said annular pas of said hollow body and forming therewith -a downwardly flaringannular passageway, an upwardly and outwardly curved extension' of said outer'wall forming: an annular Wa'll Of a diameter approximately equal to thediameter of the largest portion of'said outer .walLa downward extension from saidouter wall surrounding the convex portion of said hollow body, -a-n'engine mounted 'within said' hollow .body,a shaft driven by said engine, and, a propeller mounted above the apex of the conical portion of said hollow body. e

In witness whereof I have hereunto set vmy hand 'in the presence of two witnesses.

' JAMES ROBERTSON P'ORIER WVitnesses:

O. J WORTH, CARL R. Loor. 

